OT: Another WWI aviation book finds its way to my library

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Greetings All,

For those who may be interested I have managed to add another very hard-to-find volume to my shelves and I've been hunting this one down for a long, long time. It is the original 1918 private printing of the "Letters of Cyrus Foss Chamberlain: A Member of the Lafayette Flying Corps". This particular work has been a personal quest of mine because Chamberlain was one of several Minnesota men who served as combat pilots in the air service in WWI. In addition he was one of the two for which Wold-Chamberlain Field, (now Minneapolis-St, Paul International Airport), was named, the other being Ernest Groves Wold. The book is a collection of his letters home and was compiled and published by his father after Cyrus was killed in action near Le Ferte-Milon on 13 June, 1918. The book is in beautiful condition both inside and out and is one of but a handful known to still exist from the original privately printed run of 500. Until just recently it has not been reprinted, however with the advent of e-press you can now secure a copy if you wish to. It is also available for reading online.

Here are a couple of photos showing my latest treasure:



And with this latest addition here is the current status of my WWI library.

Personal Narratives, Biographies, and Novels:

"Above the French Lines: Letters of Stuart Walcott, American Aviator", Stuart Walcott, (1918 1st Edition)
"Ace of the Iron Cross", Ernst Udet, (1970 English translation, 1st Edition)
"Ace With One Eye: The Story of ‘Mick’ Mannock VC", Frederick Oughton, (1963 1st Edition)
"Adventure's A Wench: The Autobiography of Charles Veil as told to Howard Marsh", (1934 1st Edition)
"A Flying Fighter", E.M. Roberts, (1918 1st Edition)
"Airmen O' War", Boyd Cable, (1918 1st Edition)
"All Quiet on the Western Front", Erich Remarque, (1929 English Edition)
"An Airman Marches", Harold Balfour, (Vintage Aviation Library Edition)
"An Airman Remembers ", Hans Schröeder, English translation, (1936 1st Edition)
"An Airman's Outings", Alan 'Contact' Bott, (1917 1st Edition)
"An Aviator's Field-Book", Oswald Boelcke, English translation, (1917 1st Edition)
"An Escaper’s Log", Duncan Grinnell-Milne, (1926 Edition, author’s personal copy with revision notes)
"An Explorer in the Air Service", Hiram Bingham, (1920 1st Edition)
"A Poet of the Air", Jack Morris Wright, (1918 1st Edition)
"A Rattle of Pebbles: The First World War Diaries of Two Canadian Airmen", Brereton Greenhous, (1987 1st Edition)
"Belgium: A Personal Narrative", Brand Whitlock, (1919 1st Edition) 2-volume set
"Beyond the Tumult", Barry Winchester, (1971 1st Edition)
"Black Fokker Leader", Peter Kilduff, (2007 1st Edition)
"Bomber Pilot 1916-1918", C.P.O. Bartlett, (1974 1st Edition)
"Captain Arthur Ray Brooks: America's Quiet Ace of W.W.1", Walter A. Musciano, (1963 1st Edition)
"Cavalry of the Clouds", Alan 'Contact' Bott, (1918 1st Edition)
"Cloud Country", Jimmie Mattern, (1936 Pure Oil 1st Edition) 3-volume set
"Days on the Wing", Willy Coppens, English translation, (1931 1st Edition)
"Death in the Air", William Heinemann, (1933 Edition) (famous faked aerial photos)
"Double-Decker C.666", Haupt Heydemarck, English translation, (1931 1st Edition)
"Eastern Nights and Flights: A Record of Oriental Adventure", Alan 'Contact' Bott, (1920 1st Edition)
"En L'air!", Bert Hall, (1918 1st Edition)
"Extracts From the Letters of George Clark Moseley", (1923 1st Edition)
"Fighter Pilot on the Western Front", Wing Commander E.D. Crundall D.F.C., A.F.C., (1975 1st Edition)
"Fighting the Flying Circus", Edward Rickenbacker, (1919 1st Edition)
"Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps", James McCudden, (1918 1st Edition)
"Flying Corps Headquarters 1914-1918", Maurice Baring, (1968 1st Edition with supplementary notes)
"Flying for France", James McConnell, (1917 1st Edition)
"Flying Minnows", Roger Vee, (1935 1st Edition)
"Flying Section 17", Haupt Heydemarck, English translation, (1934 1st Edition)
"Flying With Chaucer", James Norman Hall, (1930 1st Edition)
"From Many Angles", Frederick Hugh Sykes, (1942 1st Edition)
"Go Get 'Em!", William Wellman, (1918 1st Edition)
"Granville: Tales and Tail Spins from a Flyer’s Diary", Granville ‘Granny’ Gutterson, (1919 1st Edition)
"Green Balls: The Adventures of a Night-Bomber", Paul Bewsher, (1919 1st Edition)
"Guynemer, Knight of the Air", Henry Bordeaux, English translation, (1918 1st Edition)
"Head Wind: The Story of Robert Loraine", Winifred Loraine, (1938 1st US Edition)
"Heaven High, Hell Deep", Norman Archibald, (1935 Signed 1st Edition)
"High Adventure", A.H. Cobby, (1981 Edition)
"High Adventure", James Norman Hall, (1918 1st Edition)
"Horses Don’t Fly: A Memoir of World War I", Frederick Libby, (2000 1st US Edition)
"I Flew for the Lafayette Escadrille", Edwin C. Parsons, (1962 1st Edition)
"Immelmann: The Eagle of Lille", Franz Immelmann, English translation, (1930 1st Edition)
"In the Clouds Above Bagdad", J.E. Tennant, (1920 1st Edition)
"Into The Blue", Norman MacMillan, (1929 1st Edition)
"Jagdstaffel 356", M.E. Kahnert, (1939 1st English Edition)
"Kitchener's Mob", James Norman Hall, (1916 1st Edition)
"Letters From a Flying Officer", Rothsay Stuart Wortley, (1928 1st Edition)
"Letters From a World War I Aviator", Josiah P. Rowe Jr., (1987 Edition)
"Letters of Cyrus Foss Chamberlain: A Member of the Lafayette Flying Corps", C. F. Chamberlain, (1918 1st Edition)
"Malaula! The Battle Cry of Jasta 17", Julius Buckler, (2007 1st Edition)
"Memories of World War 1", William Mitchell, (1960 Edition)
"Memoirs of Brigadier-General Gordon Shephard", Gordon Shephard, (1924 1st Edition)
"My Escape From Donington Hall", Gunther Plüschow, (1922 1st Edition)
"My Experiences in the World War", John J. Pershing, (1931 1st Edition) 2-volume set
"My Helpful Angel Flew With Me", William H. Cupples, (1975 1st Edition)
"My Island Home", James Norman Hall, (1952 1st Edition)
"Night Bombing with the Bedouins", Robert Reece, (Battery Press Edition)
"Night Raiders of the Air", A.R. Kingsford, (1939 Edition)
"Nocturne Militaire", Elliot White Springs, (1934 Edition)
"No Parachute", Arthur Gould Lee, (1970 1st US printing)
"Norman Prince, A Volunteer Who Died for the Cause He Loved", George Babbitt, (1917 1st Edition)
"Observer: Memoirs of the R.F.C., 1915-1918", A.J. Insall, (1970 1st Edition)
"One Airman's War: Aircraft Mechanic Joe Bull's Personal Diaries 1916-1919", Mark Lax, (1997 1st Edition)
"Open Cockpit: A Pilot of the Royal Flying Corps", Arthur Gould Lee, (1969 1st Edition)
"Over the Front in an Aeroplane", Ralph Pulitzer, (1915 1st Edition)
"Riders of the Sky", Leighton Brewer, (1934 1st Edition)
"Rovers of the Night Sky", W.J. 'Night-Hawk' Harvey, (1919 1st Edition)
"Sagittarius Rising", Cecil Lewis, (1936 1st US Edition)
"Sopwith Scout 7309", Sir Patrick Gordon Taylor, (1968 1st Edition)
"Stepchild Pilot", Joseph Doerflinger, (1959 1st Edition)
"That’s My Bloody Plane: The World War I experiences of Major Cecil Montgomery-Moore, as told to Peter Kilduff", (1975 1st Edition)
"The Balloon Buster: Frank Luke of Arizona", Norman S. Hall, (1928 1st Edition)
"The Diary of a P.B.O.* * poor bloody observer", Frank J. Shrive, (1981 1st Edition)
"The Escaping Club", A.J. Evans, (1936 Edition)
"The Flying Poilu", Marcel Nadaud, English translation (1918 1st Edition)
"The Red Battle Flyer", Manfred von Richthofen, English translation, (1918 1st Edition)
"The Red Knight of Germany", Floyd Gibbons, (1927 1st Edition)
"The Spider Web", T.D. Hallam (P.I.X.), (1979 Edition)
"The Way of the Eagle", Charles Biddle, (1919 1st Edition)
"Up And At 'Em", Harold Hartney, (1940 1st Edition)
"Victor Chapman’s Letters From France", John Jay Chapman, (1917 1st Edition, signed by his father)
"War Birds; Diary of an Unknown Aviator", Elliot White Springs, (1926 1st Edition)
"War Flying in Macedonia", Haupt Heydemarck, English translation, (1936 1st Edition)
"War Letters of Edmond Genet", Edmond Genet, (1918 1st Edition)
"Whom The Gods Love", Lewis C. Merrill, (1953 1st Edition)
"Wind in the Wires", Duncan Grinnell-Milne, (1918 1st Edition)
"Winged Peace", William Bishop, (1940 1st Edition)
"Winged Victory", V.M. Yeates, (1934 1st US Edition)
"Winged Warfare", William Bishop, (1918 1st Edition)
"Wings over the Somme 1916-1918", Wing Commander Gwilym H. Lewis D.F.C., (1976 1st Edition)
"With the Earth Beneath", A.R. Kingsford, (1936 1st Edition)
"With the Flying Squadron", Harold Rosher, (1916 1st Edition)

History, Reference, and General Interest Books:

"A History of the 17th Aero Squadron", Frederick M. Clapp, (1920 1st Edition)
"A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914 to 1918", G.J. Meyer, (2006 Edition)
"Air Aces of the 1914-1918 War", Bruce Robertson, (1964 Edition)
"Aircraft of World War I, 1914-1918", Jack Herris & Bob Pearson, (2010 1st Edition)
"Aircraft of Today", Charles Turner, (1917 1st Edition)
"Aviation in Canada 1917-18", Alan Sullivan, (1919 1st Edition)
"Bristol F2B Fighter: King of Two-Seaters", Chaz Bowyer, (1985 1st Edition)
"Capronis, Farmans, and Sias: U.S. Army Aviation Training and Combat in Italy with Fiorello LaGuardia 1917-1918 ", Jack B. Hilliard, (2006 1st Edition)
"Colliers New Photographic History of the World War", (1917 Edition)
"Color Profiles of World War 1 Combat Planes", Giorgio Apostolo, (1974 1st Edition)
"Decisive Air Battles of the First World War", Arch Whitehouse, (1963 1st Edition)
"Dragon Master: The Kaiser's One-Man Air Force in Tsingtau, China, 1914", Robert E. Whittaker, (1994 1st Edition)
"Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War", W.M. Lamberton, (1964 Edition)
"Flying The Old Planes", Frank Tallman, (1973 Edition)
"Fragments From France", Bruce Bairnsfather, (1917 1st Edition) (Great War cartoons by the master of the genre)
"French Military Aeronautical Branch Badges Up to 1918", Phillippe Bartlett, (2003 1st Edition)
"German Aircraft of the First World War", Peter Gray and Owen Thetford, (1962 1st Edition)
"German Air Power in World War 1", John H. Morrow, Jr., (1982 1st Edition)
"Heroes of Aviation", Laurence La Tourette Driggs, (1919 1st Edition)
"High Flew the Falcons", Herbert Molloy Mason Jr., (1965 1st Edition)
"High in the Empty Blue", Alex Revell, (1995 1st Edition with author's signature card)
"Historic Airships", Rupert Holland, (1928 1st Edition)
"History and Rhymes of the Lost Battalion", L.C. McCollum, (1929 Edition)
"History of the World War", Francis March, (1918 1st Edition)
"History of the Great World War", Rolt-Wheeler and Drinker, (1919 1st Edition)
"Italian Aces of World War I and their Aircraft", Roberto Gentilli, Antonio Iozzi, Paolo Varriale, (2003 1st Edition)
"Land and Water" Magazine, (entire April through September 1917 series, hard bound, ex-library copy)
"Ludendorff's Own Story", Erich Ludendorff, (1919 1st Edition) 2-volume set
"Mapping the First World War: Battlefields of the Great Conflict From Above", Simon Forty, (2013 Edition)
"Marine Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War", Heinz J. Nowarra, (1960 Edition)
"Military Aeroplanes", Grover C. Loening, (1918 Edition)
"Naval Aviation in World War I", Naval Aviation News, (1969 1st Edition)
"National Geographic" Magazine, (entire 1918 series, hard bound, ex-library copy)
"New England Aviators 1914-1918: Their Portraits and Their Records", (1919-20 1st Edition) 2-volume set
"Paris in Ten Days - A Little Guide for Tommy and The Yank", Sommerville Story, (1918 1st Edition)
"Reconnaissance & Bomber Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War", W.M. Lamberton, (1962 Edition)
"Rhymes of a Red Cross Man", Robert W. Service, (1916 1st Edition)
"Schlachtflieger! Germany and the Origins of Air/Ground Support 1916-1918", Rick Duiven and Dan-San Abbott, (2006 1st Edition)
"Shooting the Front: Allied Aerial Reconnaissance and Photographic Interpretation on the Western Front", Terrence J. Finnegan, (2006 1st Edition)
"Source Records of the Great War", (1923 1st Edition) 7-volume set
"Sous Les Cocardes", Marcel Jeanjean, (1919 1st Edition)
"The Air Defence of Britain 1914-1918", Christopher Cole and E.F. Cheeseman, (1984 1st Edition)
"The Australian Flying Corps in the Western and Eastern Theatres of War 1914-1918", F.M. Cutlack, (1923 1st Edition)
"The Aviation Pocket-Book 1917", R. Borlase Matthews, (1917 Edition)
"The Belgian Air Service in the First World War", Walter M. Pieters, (2010 1st Edition)
"The Fighting Triplanes", Evan Hadingham, (1969 1st Edition)
"The First War Planes", William Barrett, (1960 Edition) (the one that started it all for me)
"The Great Air War", Aaron Norman, (1968 Edition)
"The Great War", George H. Allen, (1919 1st Edition) 5-volume set
"The Great War in the Air", Edgar Middleton, (1920 1st Edition) 4-volume set
"The Imperial Russian Air Service, Famous Pilots and Aircraft of World War One", Alan Durkota, (1996 1st Edition)
"The Lafayette Flying Corps", James Hall and Charles Nordhoff, (1964 Kennikat Press limited edition two-volume set)
"The Literary Digest History of the World War", Francis Whiting Halsey, (1919 1st Edition) 10-volume set
"The People's War Book and Atlas", (1920 1st Edition, signed by Lt. Col. William A. Bishop)
"The Secrets of the German War Office", Dr. Armgaard Karl Graves, (1914 1st Edition)
"The Sky On Fire: The First Battle of Britain", Raymond H. Fredette, (1966 1st Edition)
"The Story of a North Sea Air Station", C.F. Snowden Gamble, (1967 Edition with supplementary notes)
"The United States in the Great War", Willis Abbot, (1919 1st Edition)
"The U.S. Air Service in World War I", Maurer Maurer, (1978 1st Edition) 4-volume set
"The War in the Air", Raleigh and Jones, (1st Edition) 9-volume set including map cases, (originally in the military library at Whitehall; my personal Jewel of the Crown)
"The War That Ended Peace", Margaret MacMillan, (2014 Edition)
"The Western Front from the Air", Nicholas C. Watkis, (1999 1st Edition)
"Time-Life Epic of Flight", 23-volume set, (not old and not strictly WWI but still a lot of good info and photos)
"True Stories of the Great War", (1918 1st Edition) 6-volume set
"Tumult In The Clouds: The British Experience of the War in the Air 1914-1918", Nigel Steel and Peter Hart, (1997 1st Edition)
"U.S. Official Pictures of the World War", Moore and Russell, (1924 1st Edition) 4-volume set
"Winged Mars, Volume I: The German Air Weapon 1870-1914", John R. Cuneo, (1942 1st Edition)
"Winged Mars, Volume II: The German Air Weapon 1914-1916", John R. Cuneo, (1947 1st Edition)
"1920 World Book Encyclopedia", (entire set with addendums, great for cross-referencing in a contemporary context)

Instructional Books:

"Aeroplane Construction and Operation", John Rathbun, (1918 1st Edition)
"English-French War Guide for Americans in France", Eugene Maloubier, (1918 Edition)
"Learning to Fly in the U.S. Army", E.N. Fales, (1917 1st Edition)
"Lewis Machine Gun 'Airplane Type' Service and Operation Manual", (1918 Edition)
"Manual of Rigging Notes Technical Data", (1918, possible reprint)
"Manual for Aero Companies", John M. Satterfield, (1916 1st Edition)
"Notes and Rules for Pilots of the Signal Corps Aviation Sections", (1918 1st Edition)
"Practical Flying", W.G. McMinnies, (1918 1st Edition)
"Technical Notes on the Breguet Aeroplane - 14 B2 Type", (1917 1st Edition)
"Technical Notes: Royal Flying Corps", (1916 1st Edition)
"The A-B-C of Aviation", Victor W. Pagé, (1918 1st Edition)
"The Art of Reconnaissance", David Henderson, (1916 1st Edition)
"The Eyes of the Army and Navy", Albert Munday, (1917 1st Edition)
"Training Manual, Royal Flying Corps, Part I", (1914 1st Edition with 1915 Addendum)
"Training Manual, Royal Flying Corps, Part II", (1914 1st Edition)
"Science of Pre-Flight Aeronautics", (1942 Edition)
"Self-Help for the Citizen Soldier", Moss and Stewart, (1915 1st Edition)



So many books, so little time.

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Lou, I hope you have made arrangements with a museum to take care of your outstanding collection when you shuffle off this mortal coil.

Very impressive RAF_Louvert!

Regards,

Jeff

Very nice Lou it has found a well deserved home where it will be appreciated.

Wow, what a library, Incredible!

Happy for you Lou. There might be one or two you don't have and I bet you read them too.

man what a list....gave me something to do this morning... already ordered one book

Gee they knew how to make a book back in those days didn't they? Nice library too.

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Thanks folks, bringing all these books together has been a labour of love for a good many years.

Banjoman, it is unfortunate but the museums I've talked with, while somewhat interested in taking my collection, have no space to display it and would simply pack it away in storage, (and likely sell it off piecemeal at a later date in order to generate operating funds).

lederhosen, which book did you order?

Ace_Pilto, many of these old books were indeed put together with some real quality. And it goes to how much things have changes when even what was considered a "cheap" binding back then is oft times nicer than the "fine" bindings that have been offered in more recent years.

Lou,
You need to talk with Musee de l'air LaMfair. It is a very nice place and would be happy to display your collection. I happen to know the curator. PM me for contact info. Good to see have you back!

I have been to La Ferte-Milon (sometimes La Ferté with the accent, sometimes with or without the hyphen!). Beautiful little town, my Father-in-Law was born there along with Racine. Other relations live at Fismes where there was a German airfield in WWI. The airfield is still there.

Section 17

He He...

Heh heh - nice try Mark
Actually Lou, I think 'Musee de l'ai LaMfair' are looking to ranch, I mean branch out

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You laugh, but if no one in my family wants to keep the collection it might just get passed on to just such an establishment.


Jim, it is wonderful that you have been to such places and that you have an actual family connection to them.


lederhosen, I really enjoy Heydemarck's books, I think you will too.

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It's great to see you back, Lou.

Another beautiful book that couldn't have gone to a better owner. I dare say you probably have one of the best private or public WW1 aviation book collections in your corner of the world.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation with my rather extensive medal collection. Nobody in my family is interested in them, and since I probably won't be around forever on this earth, I guess I should make some arrangements to ensure that the medals are not simply thrown aways as useless thrash when I'm no longer here to take care of them.

Lou, the WWI museum in Kansas City isn't interested! I would think they would love to have that collection, but maybe that is just my naivete showing.

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Banjoman, I've not talked with the KC WWI Museum about it, but I will next time I come through there. I'm usually in that area every few months or so.

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